Rudy's Choice

"Specter said a special court established in 1978 to review domestic intelligence-gathering would rule on the program's constitutionality, but not on individual cases. He said the Bush administration promised to make fixes in the program if the court found it unconstitutional."

Valerie Plame, who once tried to stay out of the spotlight, sues Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.

The plot in Connecticut may be thickening, as the New Republic's Jason Zengerle notes:

"Maybe Connecticut Republicans aren't so dumb after all. Joe Lieberman's pledge to run as an independent should he lose the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont once seemed to be a relatively risk-free proposition--in that the Republican candidate for Senate, Alan Schlesinger, was a virtual non-entity. . . .

"But now, according to Hartford Courant columnist Kevin F. Rennie (who wrote into the Hotline blog), Connecticut Republicans appear to be getting ready to dump Schlesinger. Rennie writes:

"Hounding Schlesinger off the ticket would open an opportunity for a wealthy Republican aspirant to join what could be a three way race after the August 8th Democratic primary in which challenger Ned Lamont is closing in on incumbent Joseph Lieberman. Three termer Lieberman has obtained petitions to secure a spot on the ballot as an independent should he lose to Lamont next month.Republicans are rumored to have some moguls of their own interested in jumping into the fray. Forcing Schlesinger off the ballot would be the first step.

"The excuse Connecticut Republicans are using to get rid of Schlesinger is that he apparently gambled under an assumed name at the Foxwoods Casino in the 1990s. So I guess that means Bill Bennett can give up on any plans he might have had to quickly establish residency in Connecticut and throw his hat into the ring."

Boy, things are getting heated. Dan Gerstein , a former Lieberman aide, hits back hard at criticism of Joltin' Joe from Democratic Hill aide turned blogger David Sirota:

"Now what standing and credibility does Sirota have to make either claim? Well, he spent most of his limited adult life working in Washington -- including a stint with the lone socialist in Congress -- before moving to Montana. To my knowledge, the closest he's come to spending any meaningful time in Connecticut is interviewing for a job in Joe Lieberman's Senate office (with yours truly) and in his Presidential campaign in 2003.

"Yes, that's right: the same guy who is viciously attacking Joe Lieberman as the great Satan of the Democratic Party actually sought not one but two jobs from the target of his hatred, and did so at time when all of the supposed sins that Sirota is attacking Lieberman for now were well known. The polite term for that would be chutzpah. Some one less charitable might call Sirota a fraud."

David Sirota punches back, calling Gerstein "a classic, haughty, self-important, professional election loser. . . . The fact that Gerstein would write such a lie in black and white shows the depths of the desperation Lieberman's camp has reached.

"Here's what really happened folks: In 2003, after I had just arrived at the Center for American Progress, I received inquiries from various Lieberman staffers about a press job, and whether I would come in to chat with them - and possibly the Senator - in preparation for Lieberman's presidential run. Obviously, they knew who I was and what kind of serious progressive politics I represented...